I bet you didn't know that the largest wine producer in Washington State, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates (Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Crest, Erath and others), is owned by one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, UST Inc. Ste. Michelle doesn't tout it much but their parent company owns Skoal and Copenhagen chewing tobacco brands, and in November of 2007 acquired Stag's leap Wine Cellars. Kinda dichotomous, no? Looks like the cigarette boys, Altria Group Inc., of Marlboro and Virginia Slims fame, want to reverse their shrinking profits and diversify into the smoke-free realms.

The price tag? $10.4 billion.

This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2008.